Average Cost of a B2B Website Redesign? Not What You Think

The internet has come a long way from the 1990s and static HTML pages. Let’s talk about today’s online experience and the average cost of a website redesign. 

Your website hopefully already has certain elements in play that draw traffic, like:

• A homepage that quickly & clearly lets visitors know what products and services you offer,
• An About Us page to give your company that human touch and explain its “why”
• Several pages that showcase the details of your product lines and service offerings. 

However, unless you created your website in the last year with the help of a very experienced marketing specialist, it definitely needs some work. We will take a look at what your site is going to need and how that all adds up in terms of budget in the article below. 

B2B Website Design for Today’s Internet

The internet is changing regularly, and the elements of a website redesign need to reflect current best practices for usability and rankability. Likewise, the average cost of a website design will reflect new requirements. On the positive side, this will reduce the amount of regular maintenance you'll need moving forward. (Note: We said reduce, not eliminate.)

There are various elements of a website redesign, including: 

• Scope 
• Team involvement 
• Theme
• Technology investment
• Page build and content migration/creation 
• Hosting/domain fees

Scope of Work ($1,000-$3,000)

Early discussions will involve what you are hoping to achieve with this project. A “simple” migration of your site will be the lowest price point. However, that’s assuming there are no changes to the site, other than the hosting platform. In reality, most projects end up with at least some changes planned (or unplanned), which makes it a redesign instead of a migration. 

This will mean various steps, including: 

• Project goal alignment (with all stakeholders): Getting buy-in before you start will help the redesign process move forward smoothly 
• Sitemap creation
• Outlining the goal of new pages 

When it comes to the goal of the project, knowing what you want to achieve helps direct projected costs and timelines as well. Is your main goal to get away from a problematic hosting platform, or is it to modernize a very outdated website? Do you plan on adding a lot of new content or just optimizing what exists for search engine optimization SEO purposes? Remember that accessibility for all users is a necessary area to include in this planning. It isn’t something that can be skipped to save money. 

All of these factors will influence the projected cost. Now is the time to think of ALL the pages, including those that are required to meet regulations (i.e. Privacy Policy) and those that aren’t publicly navigable but may be important to your sales team (i.e. a Resources Library of assets you share with leads). 

Team Involvement ($3,000-$40,000)

As you commit to a B2B website redesign, knowing who will handle day-to-day tasks is a significant factor in the cost of the website project. Do you have employees who can take on this project and not slow the momentum of your marketing efforts? Having your team members handle this task in-house means less of an investment. However, chances are your marketing staff won’t just have the skills to accomplish this project quickly and efficiently. 

Working with a freelance website designer or an agency is a bigger investment (proportional to the number of experienced people you will be gaining access to). However, that investment means better results and a more professional and polished website that’s easier to maintain and update moving forward. 

Opting between a freelance website designer and an agency also influences the timeline and the involvement of in-house staff. If you choose to go with a website designer, your staff will handle a significant amount of work in terms of content and asset gathering. The designer mainly fits the pieces of the puzzle together. Meanwhile, working with an agency gives you access to a full staff of experienced personnel to help with content creation and asset management. That’s in addition to a website designer who can share his or her experience with templates/modules/layout strategy to benefit your project. 

Theme ($0-$3,000)

This is an area of the B2B website development cost where you can potentially save money, provided you remember to consider scalability. If you are working with a smaller budget now but plan to scale the website as your business grows, then choose a template that will facilitate growth.

There are countless templates available on any major hosting platform, with customizable modules and elements you can apply your branding to for a fully unique website. Working with these existing templates means fewer bugs to work out, since others have used them before you and done the testing and troubleshooting. Time saved is money saved. 

Technology ($500-$30,000/year)

Platforms like WordPress offer free options for your website, but plug-ins are required to make it operate the way you want and provide the features you want to see. Unfortunately, some of those plug-ins are free, but many come at a cost. Keep in mind that each plug-in you add also adds to the site’s processing time. If it takes longer to load, it takes away from the visitor’s user experience. 

Plan to keep plug-in use to only what you need, so your site operates as efficiently as possible. This also means money saved on plug-ins and maintenance – since plug-ins require regular updates.

Training for in-house staff is also a good way to cut back on maintenance time in the future. 

Page Build and Content Migration/Creation ($5,000-$30,000)

When you think of the average cost of a website redesign, think of the time spent as a pie chart. The bulk of that goes into page building and content migration and creation. If you’re working with an outdated website, the SEO strategy may not align with Google’s current rankings algorithm. That means you need to consider time spent for the elements of inbound marketing website design, including keyword research and strategy. It’s also important to look at what’s working for your competitors. 

Once the SEO strategy is underway, you can think about the images and videos for each page. Working with stock photos is a more straightforward process and saves money, unless an in-house employee has a great camera and can use it at a professional level. Custom or high-end photos, while able to uniquely capture your capabilities, require additional investment to hire a professional. The question of quality comes into play here, as well as time to plan for photos and the process for editing, etc. 

This part of the process can also be the most time-consuming in terms of approval and progress updates, especially if you’re working with an agency or freelance website designer. It is important to have a liaison on your staff who helps push progress instead of letting visual minutia bog the whole process down. 

Hosting/Domain Fees ($30-$300/month)

Hosting fees are dependent on the platform you choose. Keep in mind that some platforms aren’t as effective for B2B marketing and sales functionality. Say a platform averages $200 a year – sounds like a no-brainer, right? However, this platform won’t provide customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities that will help streamline your lead generation process. Choosing a platform with B2B support now will be a bigger investment, but will typically pay for itself on a shorter timeline. 

Domain registration is a separate expense and typically runs around $60 or less for a year. However, domains can cost much more, depending on the keyword’s popularity. 

Custom Programming/Functionality – If Needed ($2,000+)

If you’re hoping for e-commerce or need a complex module to showcase the variety of your products and various features of each, then you may need customization work. In this case, the price will go up accordingly. 

If this is a top priority, it can be incorporated easily into your budget. The important thing is to prioritize this early and evaluate where you can reduce costs in other aspects of the project. 

How Much Should a Website Redesign Cost?

Because each website is different, a specific dollar amount is impossible to predict. All of the above elements take time and will probably include a surprise or two, which in turn adds to the overall budget. While your marketing budget may be set and will take a significant hit adjusting to account for revamping the website, the investment comes back significantly in terms of better lead generation. 

The True Cost of a B2B Website Redesign? Time From Your Team

Asking how much a B2B website redesign should cost is a relevant question. However, while the concern will always be the dollar signs associated with a website revamp, cutting corners is not the way to get the most value. 

Instead, the real value is in understanding that certain aspects of B2B website strategy are more worth your money and time than others. For example, a fancy video might wow your CEO, but spending that time writing new services pages will probably bring more ROI.

Even when outsourcing to an experienced agency, the process is NOT no-touch for your team. Keeping a finger on the pulse of the redesign means that every day, you’re likely paying at least one in-house employee to tackle web work. These tasks may include : 

• Reviews of updated/newly created pages
• Collaboration on which pages to address next and any milestones reached
• Providing access to the company’s DNS and any login information
• Providing branding assets and industry knowledge for graphic design and copywriting

Decisions, Decisions: Understanding the Average Cost of a Website Redesign

Outlining the average cost of a website redesign is a big process. However, once you have a solid plan and understanding of investment now versus in the future, you can put a (tentative) number to the project. 

Prioritizing the right elements of the project can give you a better idea of where you should and will be spending more money. From there, the next step is outlining the time investment and getting to work. 

B2B Website Design & Your Next Step

Starting to plan out changes for your B2B website and still have questions? Take a look at our website update checklist: